As the Centre submits a draft on the Cauvery Water Management Board to the Supreme Court, Kamal Haasan has called for a meeting to fight for Tamil Nadu's right to Cauvery water.

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Akshaya Nath

Chennai

May 15, 2018

UPDATED: May 15, 2018 00:06 IST

Kamal Haasan meeting party members at the Makkal Neethi Maiam party head office on Monday. (Photo: Twitter/maiamofficial)

HIGHLIGHTS

Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan has called for a meeting to discuss Tamil Nadu's claim to Cauvery water

The Centre today submitted a draft scheme on the Cauvery Water Management Board

Farmers in Tamil Nadu have been suffering as the Karnataka government is yet to release water

The Centre today has submitted the draft scheme of the Cauvery Water Management Board as a sealed document to the Supreme Court, and the SC is likely to make further decisions on the matter on May 16.

Meanwhile, it has been announced by the Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan that, on May 19, the farmers' association along with experts, members of different political parties and the general public will have a meeting to discuss Tamil Nadu's right to Cauvery.

"First we were told 400 TMC for Tamil Nadu and then it got distributed amongst different groups and now we are fighting for a management board and step by step the demands are coming down and we are losing our rights. I feel this is because of the issue being politicised. The only way out is if all the farmers come together and even better if all the people in Tamil Nadu irrespective of their differences come under one umbrella and fight for Cauvery, our right," said Kamal Haasan during the meeting.

He added that all that is happening at the moment is just "procrastination" and not for the welfare of the suffering farmers.

The meeting will be conducted under the banner - The Voice of Tamil Nadu for Cauvery. Kamal said it is a meeting conducted with everyone in the state under one umbrella without any difference.

He also said that the invites will be sent to everyone to join the meeting. The farmers association leaders who were present in the event requested that the state take no decision before the complete report on what was presented by the Centre in the sealed document has been revealed.

Farmers in the state, especially the delta region, have been suffering as the Karnataka government is yet to release water and the indefinite delay in the formation of the Cauvery Water Management Board has only added to their problems.

This meeting in Chennai is expected to have members from across the state participating. "We will only welcome Cauvery," emphasised Kamal Haasan stating that nothing else matters.